Recent mfg Remington M700 BDL

[richcory]

I looked at a recent mfg 700 BDL today in 30-06 & I was impressed. I say all this because when I asked to look at it, I expected to find some terrible fit/finish & lack of quality control. Especially the issue that they had when the took over Marlin. I honestly expected multiple problems with it & was looking for them very closely.

On this one, the wood was evenly spaced on both sides of the barrel. Metal had zero finish issues & the action was smooth.

Does anyone else have similar experiences? I'd like to hear about recent Remington M700 purchases.

Cory

 

[lrrifleman]

Cory,

Within the past 5 years, I purchased 3 Remington 700s: 2 700 ADL Varminters and a Long Range. External fit and finish were quite acceptable, but the trouble laid where you couldn't see.

On the 308 ADL, the leade was so bad, that a 175gr Sierra MatchKing would barely stay in the cartridge neck in order to reach the rifling. With that rifle, I was lucky if I could keep my shots within a 6 minute of angle pattern at 600 yards. In order to salvage that rifle for 600 yard F class matches would have required that it be re-barreled.

For my 700 Long Range, at about the 300 round mark, I realized that the rifle had a rough/unfinished chamber. About one of every 3 rounds fired had to be removed with the assistance of a 2x3 whacked on the bolt handle.

Some times, in order to find a really good Model 700, you need to have some tools handy to check the chamber and throat!

 

[richcory]

Yikes, that's not good stuff.

Cory

 

[Farmer17]

My wife wanted to go to Walmart on Black Friday a couple of years ago and I noticed a 700 BDL 30-06 with gorgeous wood and the price was marked down to $377! I snagged it and mounted a Redfield 2-7X scope and it was accurate and had pretty nice trigger and the gun was really beautiful but a buddy who lets me hunt on his land wanted it really bad so I sold it for what I had in it. I don't know why Remington doesn't think a 30-06 needs a recoil pad, that gun kicked like a mule!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

A friend of mine went on a Cape Buffalo hunt around 15 tears ago. He bought a Remington in 416 Rem with all the sights for the expected hunt.

As he prepared to go at T minus 6 months, he noticed the sights would not stay adjusted. So he contacted a very good gunsmith that was also a friend and got the gun back early enough to work up for a month before leaving for Afrika. To have a banded front sight, and a 3 leave rear sight silver soldiered on was more than the rifle cost. He had the stock shortened to his 13.25" LOP with a better butt pad and trigger work done in addition to the sights (additional money too).

The factory gun design was a good functional piece, the fit and finish were very useable, but the "Happy Lawyer" trigger, and faulty sight made it a wall hanger or death trap, without knowledgeable help! Question: Why not just build the thing correct the first time? Answer: Bean counters pinching pennies!

My friend will never have another hunt like that again, but his "Man Cave" family room has a beautiful mount (if you think Cape Buffalo can be beautiful) and a prominent spot for the rifle. He also has a very nice photo of the Pride of Lions hunting the same first buffalo he was after, he decided they got "dibs!

Ivan

 

[Big Cholla]

During my tenure as a professional gunsmith, the majority of my rifle work was with Rem 700s. I restocked, rebedded, retriggered, adjusted triggers, lapped barrels, rebarreled, recrowned, etc. etc. And that was on rifles that usually were good for MOA out of the box. I had the utmost of respect for the Remington M 700 product of the 1970's to the late 1990's. I purchased for my own use a Rem 700 Sendero in 300 Win mag. I tuned the trigger, checked the bedding, installed a muzzle brake, and proceeded to the range with my 'best' 300 WM load. I shot a very tight group at 100 yds and was very satisfied. Because it was handy, I put a target out at 600 yds. Not expecting anything exceptional I shot a five shot group from a very good benchrest. I was flabbergasted after going down and looking at the group. It measured 1.755" from center to center of the extreme shots. That could be a total anomaly and just an example of compensating errors,......, or it could be the rifle and the shooter were just that good. Like most egotistical shooters, I quit right there. For years that target hung either in my man cave or my shop. Some how I have lost track of it.......... But, today, that rifle sits in the first row of my gun safe with a package of that ammo laying right there.

I have no experience with any Rem 700 made after 2000 and probably never will. But, I remember when they left Win. M 70s in their dust.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have young people ask me about Remington 700's all the time. I still have 3 or 4 guns with 700 actions, but none are factory. I Recommend Savage Rifles. My herd is 4, a pre 1958 340 in Hornet and a Target 223 that shoots 3" at 1000 yards (from around 2005) a 10 BAS 308 Sniper rifle and a 110 BA in 338 Lapua Mag (both from around 2009-2010 and discontinued). Since my stroke I have only shot the 338 on 3 outings, the last was a load proving trip tp a 200 yard range. The Retumbo load with a 300 grain Sierra MatchKing shot 1/2" @ 200 yards (1/4 MOA!). I get my 308 out and with Sierra 155 Palma and lots of Varget, usually have 100 or 200 yard groups that are much smaller than a dime! (I have 3 Savage 24's also, but for this discussion they don't count!)

Most kids don't want to drop $1500-1800 on a rifle or $2400 on a scope (pre 2010 prices), but Savage deer rifles are at the bottom of the pricing scale, and are shooting in the top of the accuracy scale.

When my 2nd son came home from the Marines in 2003, I gave him a welcome home gift of a used left handed Savage 110 in 223, w/ a Krasner (Philippines) 6-18x40mm scope I got the whole set up $200 OTD! I zeroed the scope with Winchester promotional ammo of 46 grain soft point @ 3800fps. I got consistent 3/8" groups at 200yards shooting right handed. (I gave him 200 rounds of ammo too.) I figured on the 3 farms the family owned, if he saw a ground hog, it was dead!

The only sort of problem he had with the gun was, he was used to M-16A-2's and that bolt was so long he never got used to that long of stroke!

I am a firm believer in Savage Rifles

Ivan

 

[mauser9]

Interesting to hear the different views and experiences concerning the 700. Had nothing to offer myself as mine is a 84 made ADL rifle with walnut stock. Never had an issue so far. Maybe more QC went into em. Mirror finish bluing back then and trigger remains crisp. Ran me around $350 new back then. Hopefully Remington will improve.

 

[Rubone]

I bought a used "modern" Remington a couple years ago, a 700SPS in .270 WSM for cheap money and it is a fine rifle. Very accurate, great trigger, no issues at all. The seller was a young man who bought it because he wanted a .270 and didn't know the difference with WSMs so he never could figure it out. I bought it for $280 and never looked back. It had a cheap scope on it ( Bushnell Banner) that I replaced with a Vortex. 1/2 MOA at 200 yards all day. My other 700 is a BDL in 25-06 I have had since the '70s.
The Banner is surprisingly good on my Ruger American Ranch in 7.62X39!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

The seller was a young man who bought it because he wanted a .270 and didn't know the difference with WSMs so he never could figure it out.

That tells you how good the store staff that sold him the gun was!

I have a late 50's 3-9 Banner on my pre-76 Ruger No. 1 in 7x57. It is unbelievable the clarity on this old scope is! But a modern Banner probably isn't worth squat, even at 7.62x39 distances!

Ivan